Highland League bottom side Rothes end 13-game losing run with goalless draw against Lossiemouth while Brechin City lose top spot after only second defeat of season
Rothes ended a run of 13 straight defeats to hand manager Ronnie Sharp his first point in charge.
But the Speysiders’ 0-0 derby draw with Lossiemouth on Wednesday wasn’t enough to take them off bottom spot in the Highland League, as nearest rivals Strathspey Thistle also picked up a draw.
Sharp and his assistant Mike Rae signed a contract extension for another two years before the match.
Neither side could break the deadlock at MacKessack Park, with Rothes picking up a first defensive clean sheet since the opening day of the season against Forres.
It ended a run of 13 defeats, 12 in the league since the Speysiders beat Turriff United 3-2 on November 2.
They also meet Strathspey in Grantown this weekend, and would have climbed back above their rivals on Wednesday night but for Jags’ 1-1 draw at home to on-form Huntly.
The Christie Park men arrived at Seafield Park buoyed by a 5-0 win over Forres and a 7-0 thrashing of Keith, but got a very early shock to the system.
Within 32 seconds of kick off, Strathspey Thistle took the lead through a James Fraser goal and held that advantage until the 82nd minute.
Huntly levelled things up thanks to Brodie Allen’s third goal in two games to rescue a point.
Buckie Thistle moved up to seventh by completing a very convincing derby double over coast neighbours Deveronvale.
Having hammered Vale 7-1 in Banff in August, Jags almost repeated the scoreline with a 6-1 success at Victoria Park.
Two early Lyall Keir goals gave Buckie a comfortable half time cushion and they added four more in the closing 20 minutes.
Darryl McHardy scored twice and there was one each for Marcus Goodall and ex-Vale defender Innes McKay, with former Buckie player Harry Noble getting the visitors’ only crumb of consolation when the score was 4-0.
There was significant movement at the top of the table, with Brechin City suffering only their second league defeat of the season to dent their title hopes.
The Tayside outfit, whose only previous loss this term was at Forres in October, won at Brora Rangers on Saturday to oust their opponents from first place, but the positions were quickly reversed.
Brechin lost out 1-0 at Inverurie Locos to a Milosz Ochmanski goal on 28 minutes, while Brora posted a 5-0 win at Keith to regain top spot.
The Maroons, without keeper Craig Reid who dislocated his shoulder against Huntly on Saturday, and captain Ryan Robertson who was banned after his early red card, couldn’t match the Cattachs.
Five different players were on target for Brora with Craig Mackenzie and Shane Sutherland scoring before half time and Matty Wright, Alex Cooper and Max Ewan making it 99 league goals this season for the Sutherland outfit.
The night’s other match was a drab affair settled by an injury time goal.
Fraserburgh and Turriff appeared to be heading for a goalless draw at Bellslea Park until Connor Wood popped up in the second minute of time added on at the end to snatch all three points for Broch.
